UNLABELLED Adequate preoperative evaluation and preparation for surgery are required to prevent prolonged mechanical ventilation after thymectomy, and facilitate the recovery of patients with myasthenia gravis (MG). The objective of this study was to identify the preoperative risk factors for extubation failure after thymectomy in patients with MG. METHODS A retrospective study was conducted ...

IMPORTANCE With an aging population, preoperative assessment of the frail older adult requires evaluation beyond simply accounting for chronic diseases. Impaired cognition is a recognized characteristic of the frail older adult. OBJECTIVE To examine the effect of preoperative impaired sensorium (IS) on general surgical outcomes. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Retrospective cohort study u...

Preoperative pulmonary evaluation and preparation involve first identifying patients at risk for complications and then attempting to modify that risk. For most patients without underlying lung disease, a thorough history and physical examination and preoperative instruction in the use of incentive spirometry is sufficient. In patients with known or suspected lung disease, preoperative pulmonar...

BACKGROUND Patients undergoing intermediate-risk surgery are typically taken to the ward postoperatively. However, some may develop complications requiring intensive care later. We aimed to evaluate the characteristics of patients undergoing intermediate-risk surgery who required late postoperative admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) and determine the predictors for this. METHODS The s...

Abstract Introduction Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing (CPET) and the Colorectal Physiology Operative Severity Score (CR-POSSUM) are increasingly used in colorectal surgical practice to risk-stratify patients preoperatively for planning level 2 HDU or ITU admission. This study aims generate a simple, objective pre-operative risk assessment model complement clinical judgement, determine objectiv...

BACKGROUND Statin therapy in nonsurgical patient populations is associated with a significant reduction in adverse cardiovascular events, including death, myocardial infarction (MI), and stroke. Recently, statin therapy was shown to be associated with a reduced incidence of postoperative mortality in patients undergoing major noncardiac vascular surgery. We investigated the influence of preoper...

BACKGROUND Preoperative NT-proBNP has been shown to predict adverse cardiac outcomes, although recent studies suggested that postoperative NT-proBNP determination could provide additional information in patients submitted to noncardiac surgery. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the prognostic value of perioperative NT-proBNP in intermediate and high risk cardiovascular patients undergoing noncardiac surg...

BACKGROUND Quality of Life (QoL) studies concerns the difference in QoL between the baseline and the post-surgical assessment. Many such studies, however, suffer from incomplete QoL-data with regard to patients with a proven survival--the drop-outs. Our hypothesis is that patients with a low preoperative QoL, high operative risk and older age are at higher risk for drop-out, which may result in...